2010-11 EPL Preview: West Bromwich Albion

Baggies Baggies Baggies

The English Premier League (suck it, Barclays!) season is just around the corner, so we here at UF are giving you everything you need to know about all 20 teams with our award-winning analysis. And no, we haven’t really won any awards, but neither has Arsenal in five years and people still seem to care about them.

Official Name: West Bromwich Albion Football Club

Nickname: West Brom; The Baggies

Home Colors:
The home kit from Umbro features alternating black and white stripes, with a prominent logo featuring the phone number of sponsor Homeserve, which is apparently an emergency home repair company. Not attractive.

Perhaps they went with the home repair outfit in case they need a discount on fixing things up in the West Midlands.

Lookin' sharp

Trophy Case:
West Brom have an impressive early club history, but things are decidedly bleak after the late 1960s. They won the old First Division in 1919/1920, and finished 2nd in 1924/1925 and 1953/1954. They have performed better in the Second Division, winning it in 1901/1902, 1910/1911 and 2007/2008 while finishing 2nd in 1930/1931, 1948/1949, 2001/2002, 2003/2004 and 2009/2010.

In addition, WBA have won the FA Cup five times (1888, 1892, 1931, 1954, 1968) and finished 2nd five other times (1886, 1887, 1895, 1912, 1935). They won the League Cup in 1966 and finished 2nd in 1967 and 1970.

2009-10 League Finish:
After getting bounced down to the Coca-Cola Championship in the 2008/2009 season, West Brom were determined to regain the top flight of football and Roberto Di Matteo was brought in to replace the departing Tony Mowbray (who went to Celtic) to do the job. He was successful on his first attempt, as the Baggies finished at 26-13-7 with 91 points, good enough for 2nd place. They had an impressive +41 goal differential, knocking in 89 while only giving up 48.

2009-10 Average Home Attendance:
For the 2009/2010 season, the Baggies averaged 22,199 in attendance at The Hawthorns. That’s good enough for 25th of all English professional football, although it represents only 83.8% of capacity and is down from an average of 25,828 for the 2008/2009 season.

2009-10 Cup Finish:
West Brom were knocked out in the Fifth Round Proper of the FA Cup by Reading, drawing 2-2 in the first leg and losing 2-3 in extra time in the replay. The Baggies fared less well in the Carling Cup, losing 0-2 to Arsenal in the Third Round Proper.

History:
Founded in 1878, West Bromwich Albion were inaugural members of the English Football League in 1888. Considered one of the top English teams at the time due to a string of finishes in the FA Cup from 1886-1888 (2nd, 2nd, 1st), the Baggies saw some early success but were first relegated after the 1900/1901 season. They won the Second Division the following year to regain top-flight football immediately, and moved between the top 2 divisions for the rest of their history with the lone exception of the 1991/1992 season spent in the Third Division.

WBA had an extended period outside of the First Division from 1986 to 2002, but since that time they have been a bit of a yo-yo club, never spending more than two consecutive seasons in either the EPL or the Championship.

Team Legends:
In terms of players noted for the accomplishments at the club, the list really only contains 3 players.

Tony Brown was a winger at West Brom from 1963 to 1981, scoring 279 goals in 720 matches (both of which are club records). Known as “Bomber Brown”, he was the top scorer in the First Division during the 1970/1971 season, after which he received his only international call-up for England. Brown won the 1966 League Cup and the 1968 FA Cup with the side, and was instrumental on the pitch for a long period of time.

Bryan Robson spent time alternating between left-back and central midfield during his time at West Brom, which spanned from 1974 to 1981. The England international (who captained his country 65 times) scored 46 goals in 249 matches after a slow start to his time with the club. After suffering three leg breaks within a 5-month span, “Robbo” was a force of nature during the 1978/1979 season, playing in 41 of 42 matches and leading the Baggies to 3rd place in the First Division along with a quarterfinals appearance in the UEFA Cup. After his playing days he was awarded the OBE.

Cyrille Regis was one of the first widely-accepted black footballers, in large part due to his play at West Brom alongside Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson (both of whom were also black). Often the first name that comes to mind when thinking of West Bromwich Albion “Legends”, Regis scored 112 goals in 302 matches (all competitions) as striker for the club between 1977 and 1984. He was named as the PFA Young PotY in 1978, and won the Goal of the Season award in 1981/1982 for his strike against Norwich (sorry Ned!) in the FA Cup. Despite never taking top honors with the club, he is warmly remembered as a linchpin of the club in the late 1970s and early 1980s for the side’s series of near-misses (FA Cup semi-finalists in 1978 and 1982; League Cup semi-finalists in 1982; 3rd place in the First Division in 1979; 4th place in the First Division in 1981). After his playing days he was awarded the MBE.

How much longer will this man be smiling?

Gaffer:
Roberto Di Matteo

The 40 year-old manager had 2 goals in 44 matches for the Azzuri from 1994-1998, but is best known for his time at Chelsea. From 1996 to 2002, the midfielder scored 15 goals in 119 matches. His career was eventually ended when he suffered a triple leg fracture in a UEFA Cup tie against St. Gallen and he chose to retire after an 18-month rehabilitation of his injury.

First Team:
GK: Scott Carson (19); Boaz Myhill (-); Dean Kiely (1); Ryan Allsop (39)

DEF: Joe Mattock (2); Jonas Olsson (3); Marek Čech (4); Leon Barnett (5); Gianni Zuiverloon (22); Abdoulaye Méïté (23); Gabriel Tamaş (26); Paul Downing (30); Gonzalo Jara (36); Pablo Ibáñez (-)

MID: Chris Brunt (11); Giles Barnes (12); Jerome Thomas (14); Graham Dorrans (17); Youssuf Mulumbu (21); James Morrison (27); Lateef Elford-Alliyu (32); Josh Knight (34); Romaine Sawyers (35); George Thorne (37); Sam Mantom (41); Kayleden Brown (43); Steven Reid (44)

ST: Roman Bednář (9); Ishmael Miller (10); Chris Wood (15); Luke Moore (16); Reuben Reid (18); Simon Cox (31)

I would expect the starting XI to be:
GK: Myhill
DEF: Čech (LB); Olsson (CB); Ibáñez (CB); Tamaş (RB)
MID: Brunt (LW); Dorrans (CM); Jara (DM); Mulumbu (CM); Reid (RW)
ST: Bednář

Transfers In:
Boaz Myhill (Hull City) – £1.5M; Myhill had 5 clean sheets and made 112 saves in 27 matches last season. His arrival at the Hawthornes places pressure on West Brom captain Scott Carson, intensifying the battle for #1 netminder. The 27 year-old American (hey, he was born in Modesto, CA before moving at the age of 1) saw 257 matches in his time at Hull from 2003 to 2010.

Gabriel Sebastian Tamas (AJ Auxerre) – £800,000; The 26 year-old CB joined West Brom in January from AJ Auxerre, and had 2 goals in 23 matches. The loan move was made permanent in June.

Steven Reid (Blackburn Rovers) – Free; The 29 year-old midfielder joined the Baggies in March on loan from Blackburn, and the move was made permanent in May after he scored 1 goal in 10 matches. With the Rovers, Reid had mustered only 6 goals in 113 matches between 2003 and 2010.

Pablo Ibanez (Atletico Madrid) – Free; The 28 year-old CB arrived on a free from Atletico Madrid after falling out of favor under gaffer Quique Sanchez Flores. Between 2004 and 2010, Ibanez played in 156 matches but only featured in 7 matches this past season. Having been capped for Spain, the physical defender has both World Cup and Champions League experience upon which to draw.

Transfers Out:
Jonathan Greening (Fulham) – £4M; The 31 year-old attacking midfielder had only 7 goals in 196 matches for West Brom between 2004 and 2010. He had 1 goal in 23 matches while on loan to Fulham after the January transfer window, and both sides decided to make the loan move permanent over the summer.

Joss Labadie (Tranmere Rovers) – Free; The 19 year-old midfielder has been on loan for the past 2 seasons with Tranmere Rovers, featuring in only 9 matches and scoring 3 goals. Apparently, Rovers saw something in the youngster as they decided to sign him permanently after his contract with West Brom expired.

Several players are on loan:
Borja Valero (Villareal); On loan to Mallorca last season, the 25 year-old midfielder has been loaned out to Villareal this time around as he seemingly has no place at The Hawthorns.

Luke Daniels (Bristol Rovers); The 22 year-old netminder has been on loan from West Brom since 2004, starting 37 matches for Tranmere Rovers last season.

Marcus Haber (St. Johnstone); The 21 year-old Canadian striker has bounced around from Exeter City to the Vancouver Whitecaps while on loan from the Baggies, and this coming season he will see time with the Scottish side.

Key Players:
Despite only featuring in 21 league matches, Roman Bednář was West Brom’s second-leading scorer with 11 goals. With 30 goals in 80 appearances for the club, the striker is an important component of the attacking force.

There is a feeling that Boaz Myhill has been brought in to make Scott Carson realize that he needs to improve his occasionally loltastic goalkeeping if he wishes to maintain his place in between the posts, and that the former Hull City man will see significant time in competition to do so.

[WARNING: Audio NSFW]

Rising Stars:
Left back Joe Mattock made 26 league starts last season and earned 8 YCs, and the 20 year-old is beginning to develop his reputation as a defensive hard man. Unfortunately, that attitude also extended off the pitch.

Striker Chris Wood performed extremely well for West Brom’s youth side and in the reserves, earning him his first professional contract last season. In 17 matches (starting 6 of those), the 18 year-old scored 4 goals to establish himself as a legitimate threat. The All-Whites agreed, bringing him to South Africa for WC 2010 as the youngest member of the New Zealand squad.

The Hawthorns in the West Midlands.

Stadium:
The Hawthorns (26,500)

Drama:
New signing Gabriel Tamaş was sent to the reserves while on loan at Dinamo Bucuresti for drinking while in training, so he’s obviously not a big fan of rules. If he continues to display that kind of attitude, there will definitely be drama in store for him at The Hawthorns.

There are also some hard feelings about the scuttled transfer of Eric Djemba-Djemba. The 29 year-old is now saying that West Brom retracted an extended offer after claiming that he was still suffering ill effects of a knee injury in an attempt to lower the asking price.

Tactics!:
Di Matteo began last season with a 4-4-2 but shifted to a 4-5-1 as the season drew to a close. I would expect the same thing for this season, but with Bednář isolated up top goals will be a lot harder to come by against Premier League competition.

Question Marks:
The competition for #1 netminder will be intense – who will win out in the end, Myhill or Carson? Will Tamaş be able to behave himself? Can Roman Bednář stop taking illegal drugs? Most importantly, can the Baggies stay up?

Important Fixtures:
West Bromwich Albion start off their season with an uphill climb, having to go into Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on August 14th.

The Baggies have a strong rivalry with Aston Villa, and have also contested the Black Country Derby with the Wolverhampton Wanderers. They will face Villa for the first time on December 11th in Birmingham, and are home against the Wolves on December 18th for consecutive rivalry matches. The return matches are bookended near the season’s finish, as West Brom face Villa at home on April 30th and are away to Wolves on May 7th.

The latter two matches represent an incredibly difficult run-in for the Baggies. That gauntlet begins with home matches against Arsenal (March 19th) and Liverpool (April 2nd) before a brief respite with a match at Sunderland on April 9th. The misery begins again on April 16th with a match against Chelsea at The Hawthorns followed by a trip to White Hart Lane on April 23rd to face Spurs before the rivalry matches.

Prediction:
The prospect for survival looks bleak. It’s not that West Bromwich Albion aren’t a side good enough to stay up, it’s simply that 3 teams must go down and there are too few candidates for the Baggies to avoid being the yo-yo yet again.